Love and Life in the FBI
by Rani of the Gypsies
Summary: "We are shaped and fashioned by what we love for where there is love there is life" Author unknown. Alice Gates had been beaten, scarred and abused for a pretty decent portion of her life. Now her life is good. SRxOC Full summary inside T/M for language
1. Chapter 1

"We are shaped and fashioned by what we love for where there is love, there is life" Author unknown. Alice Gates had been beaten, scarred and abused for a pretty decent portion of her life. Now, her life is good. As a mom, she's great. As an FBI agent, she's kick ass. A promotion has her moving up in the professional world, but her love life is non-exsistent. Can a certain doctor help to cure her loneliness?

**Author's Note:** I give everybody who is/has read this permission to shoot me. I know this is like my third reload of this one chapter but in my defense, I didn't like where I was going so I did have to do this. I am back on track though and I will get more than just the one chapter up.

* * *

I can still feel the cool breeze and the almost too-warm sun on my skin. The dream always starts out this way, the good. Remembering is hard because I was so small when everything changed. I remember the smell of the barn and the horses that lived there. I remember laughing with my sister as we played our little games that most normal children play; tag, leap frog, hide and seek. It was good... life was good. But all of a sudden, I'm falling. It's black and I'm beginning to run for my life. My terror gets the best of me yet again.

_"Aly! RUN! NOW!" The small, dark haired child took off but turned around to look at her big sister one last time._

_ "Rachel come with me," she yelled back, "we can make it together! I'm not leaving you!" That was when the gun went off. All Alice Gates heard was the loud BANG and all she saw was the spray of red as her older sister crumbled to her knees._

_ "ALY! GO!" Tears streamed down the eight years olds young face as she turned back around and began to run with all her might. A woman's voice rang out in the night, a voice that has haunted poor Alice for all her life._

_ "Alice! This is all your fault!"_

I shot up out of bed in a cold sweat. I hadn't had that dream in years. I sighed as I turned to look at my alarm clock. It read 3:26 in it's bright red numbers.

"Well, so much for a full night of sleep," I muttered to no one in particular. I threw my comforter off my legs and swung them over the bed. I tip-toed through the darkness of my house until I made it downstairs to the kitchen where I flipped on the light and turned to dig through the fridge. There wasn't really anything in particular that I wanted, it was just a force of habit. I paused, stared at everything, and finally grabbed a bottle of water for myself. I sighed as I shut the fridge and headed for the living room. I threw myself down on the couch only to turn the tv on to Animal Planet. Mindless tv normally helped me get back to sleep but I had to be up in an hour and a half anyways to get ready for work.

I chanel surfed for a little bit before deciding to leave it on VH1 while I picked up one of my latest knitting projects. I was working on a new sweater for Rachel since fall and a new school year were right around the corner. And she had outgrown a lot of her old clothes. I was going to take her shopping this weekend if I didn't get called into work. About a hour and a half later, some new song by Rhianna began to play when I finally looked over at the clock. Seeing as it was now almost five, I figured it would be a good time to go ahead and hop in the shower. I left my knitting on the sofa and left the tv on as I made my way back upstairs towards my room. I yawned as I did and quietly checked in on my daughter as I did. Rachel was still sleeping soundly as I peeked my head in through her cracked door. I couldn't help but smile as I shut the door just as softly as I had opened it. I continued my silent way down the hall until I got to my room where a hot shower was whispering my name.

* * *

"Ok, so what have we got on the new girl Garcia," is what special agent Dr. Spencer Reid asked the tech specialist when she walked out of her office with several packets of paper and handed them out to Reid, Prentiss, Morgan, and Rossi.

"Well, your technilogical goddess has found out everything about this girl. But let me warn you, her background is not all rainbows and unicorns. Alice Gates was born in Houston, Texas in 1987 so she's 23. At age 4, her mother dropped her and her sister off at a hospital and they never heard from her again. No father is listed on the birth certificates. Her sister was Rachel Gates and she was eleven when they were ditched. The next three years for the girls were spent in and out of foster homes before they were adopted by a Mr. and Mrs. Castro in Chicago. Tragedy struck a year later though when the girls were taken in broad daylight by their biological mother. They were brought back to Texas where they were fine for a few days but then something caused their mother to snap. Rachel ended up shot while the girls tried to run away. The mother blamed Alice for Rachel's death, she wanted to kill Alice but was unsuccessful." Morgan took the moment to interrupt the tech specialist's briefing.

"So you mean to tell me that this poor girl has lived with the blame of her sister's death for...13 or 14 years? That's harsh." He shook his head as he began to flip through the file.

"Yep, and the pain doesn't stop there precious. She was training to become a ballerina, but a leg injury caused her to have to stop dancing. She was a straight A student all throughout grade school and high school but during her junior year when she was sixteen, her lovely boyfriend knocked her up and then promptly went on to deny that the two had even dated. It devestated Alice, but she went on to have the child and maintain her 4.0 GPA. Alice has a six year old daughter who she named Rachel Anne Gates, which was her older sister's name. Her family moved here for not only Alice's senior year, but her adoptive father was elected to congress, so they moved here but the house in Chicago is still maintained. She was valedictorian of both her high school class and her college class. Wow, she attended William and Mary and took the train home every weekend and for every holiday while her parents kept her daughter. She worked her way through college and majored in criminal psychology and minored in child psychology. Out of college, she was a social service worker before she started working for the DC FBI field office to catch child molestors and other creeps of the child liking variety. Strauss hand picked her for the job, she didn't apply but she accepted the job. I guess we better get ready to welcome her now. She looks really friendly." Garcia walked off to her office while everyone else went to their desk. Reid continued to read about the new girl, Alice. She seemed like she would be a good addition to the team, but she wouldn't be JJ.

"Do we know when she's going to get here," asked special agent Prentiss. Unit Chief Hotchner came walking from around the corner.

"She's already here, she's just being briefed about expectations before I brief her about how we function." Hotchner then proceeded to head towards his office with some new case files and to wait for Aice Gates to be brought to him. Dr. Reid couldn't help but have the stray thought of how pretty she was though, as he looked at a picture of Alice Gates. She had shoulder length black hair and piercing green eyes. The only picture in the file was Alice's badge picture. Even though you could tell she was fighting a smile, her eyes still sparkled. Reid shook the thought off as he placed the file in his desk drawer.

* * *

After I had showered and dried my hair, I began to get dressed. I threw on some undergarments, I pulled on a pair of flattering black slacks that flared out a little bit at the bottom and a purple shirt that had a black print of an owl on it. It was late June, but I needed to keep my attire professional until I figured out how my new team members would be. I picked out a pair of low heeled black strappy sandals though . I still needed to have my little quirks.

I walked out of my room with an hour to spare, but it was now time to wake the child for the day. I could already hear the sounds of my adoptive mother downstairs. She was more than likely going to shove breakfast down my throat before I left. I opened Rachel's bedroom door and flipped the light on. I chuckled as she groaned and muttered, "five more mintues mommy." I sat on the edge of the bed

"Come on honey, I start my new job today. Grandma is already here for you." She sat up and gave me a sleepy smile. I smiled back at her and we both got up from the bed. Rachel sleepwalked behind me down the stairs and into the kitchen where she took a seat at the table. My mom placed a plate of food in front of her and then set one down next to the coffee pot where I was making myself a cup to go.

"I expect you to eat at least half of that. You're going to need someone to remind you to eat with that new job of yours." I laughed as I picked up a piece of toast and began to munch on it.

"You know I'm not a breakfast person mom. Anyways, I have to go. I love you sweetheart," I said to Rachel. She turned towards me and ran over. She squeezed me close as I wrapped my arms around her, "I'll see you tonight when I pick you up at grandma's though." Rachel pulled away and pouted up at me. I felt so bad looking into her sad hazel eyes. I had tried to explain to the best extent of my knowledge what I would be doing now. That my new job meant I could be called in at any time and have to be gone for a few days if needed. Rachel really didn't take that all too well. I walked around to her and gave her another squeeze before I picked up my car keys. I also gave my momma one last quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before I headed out. Rachel told me she loved me and that I needed to check my purse when I got to the office. I laughed and went to my car for the twenty minute drive to Quantico.

Pulling up to the Quantico building was a little nerve wrecking for me, I had worked with the DC field office for the past year and a half and was now nervous about working with new people.

"Just breath Aly, you're super friendly and extremely nice. They'll love you," it was what Rach would have told me if she were still alive. I sighed as I gathered my things and walked into the building. The Section Chief Director was waiting for me when I walked into the building. She looked down at ther watch as I approached.

"Ten minutes early Miss Gates, I like that," I held out my hand for her to shake.

"Better to be ten minutes early then five minutes late Mrs. Strauss," I gave her a wide smile as she firmly shook my hand.

"Very true Miss Gates," with that said, I followed her as she began to walk off. "First things first Miss Gates, you need a badge." There was a room on the first floor that Mrs. Strauss led me to that allowed me to do just that. I had taken off my coat, so I just clipped it ot the bottom of my shirt like I normally did when I was back working in DC. I continued to follow Mrs. Strauss around the building until we got to her office, where she offered me a seat.

"Now, Miss Gates, I want to go ahead and tell you now that you are not going to be seen as a replacement. You are just a new profiler being brought in. I'm very impressed with the work you've done in DC, and I personally believe that we need a person who specializes in child killers." I didn't know if I should smile or grimace, but I did tell her that I was "definitely the girl for the job." After Mrs. Strauss had gone on and on about what she expected to hear from Unit Chief Hotchner about me, she led me out of her office to a large room where I felt several pairs of eyes on me as we walked into a smaller room where a tall, dark haired man was sitting at a desk. He stood when Strauss shut the door behind her though.

"Director Strauss, good morning. I expect this is Agent Gates." He had a firm voice and a seemingly emotionless face, but he could just be like that because Strauss was in the room. I held my hand out to him though.

"Please, call me Alice sir," I informed my new boss. I was then offered a seat, so was Director Strauss, but she checked her watch when she was also offered one.

"I have a meeting to be at in fifteen minutes. And Miss Gates knows what I expect to hear from you, I'm sure you'll be fine Agent Hotchner." She left the room then which left me alone with Chief Hotchner. I gave him a wide smile as he focused his attention on me.

"So, I read in your file that you have a child?" I nodded my head.

"Yes, my daughter Rachel is six." He flipped through a few papers in my files.

"My son Jack is going to be turning seven soon. I hope you have arrangements made for Rachel when we travel. Becau-" I raised my hand and cut him off.

"I know about the travel and the dangers. My adoptive parents are Victor and Katherine Castro so trust me, Rachel is watched at all times when I'm gone. My mother has her right now but I'm sure that Gerard, her body guard/playmate, will take over at some point today. So the travel won't be a problem." After that, we continued to discuss other things about my background.

* * *

"So, is she here? What's she like," Tech Analysist Garcia asked as she rounded the corner. Reid, Rossi, Prentiss, and Morgan were all standing together watching the new girl with Hotch.

"She's a tiny little thing I'll say that much about her," stated Agent Morgan, "She's got to be at least four inches shorter than Reid and potentially an inch shorter than you baby girl." Morgan smiled at Garcia and Garcia smiled back.

"She seems a little nervous, but she masks it well," Reid added.

"Think about it though Reid," began Agent Rossi, "it's her first day at a new job, she's going to be nervous." They were still talking as Hotch and Alice stood from Hotch's desk and walked down towards the team. They all shushed when they heard Hotch clear his throat. Apparently, Alice Gates had heard some of what they had said because her face seemed flushed slightly. Reid and the rest of the team couldn't help but feel a little bit ashamed that they were being such gossipy school girls.

"Guys, this is Alice Gates, I want you to make her feel welcome here with us." Hotch went back to his office while Alice was left to stand there awkwardly with her new team. She smiled brightly though and told herself that everything was going to be alright as she introduced herself.

"Hey, I'm Alice, but I prefer Aly," I held out my hand for somebody to shake, but I was wrapped up in a tight hug by a woman who was standing close to me.

"Welcome Aly, I'm Penelope Garcia. You can call me Garcia though sweetie," I couldn't help but smile at her as she pulled away to introduce everyone else. The first person she pointed to was a very handsome piece of chocolate of a man.

"Hot stuff over there is Derek Morgan," I forced myself to smile as he shook my hand.

"Hey pretty lady," he smiled back at me and I was glad that I didn't break into a sweat, he looked so much like someone else I knew. The next person Garcia introduced me to was a woman with dark brown hair who was a little taller than me.

"This is Emily Prentiss," we exchanged a hello and shook hands. Emily was followed by David Rossi, who I had heard a lot about. I had also read two of his books. The last person I was introduced to was tall, way taller than me in my book. He had short brown hair and very gorgeous brown eyes. I hadn't dated since college and hadn't really allowed myself to feel any kind of love from a man except for my father since high school. He smirked almost nervously at me and gave a little wave. I was smitten to say the least.

"And this last cutie pie is Dr. Spencer Reid," I shook his hand as well.

"Doctor? You can't be much older than me, no offense," he shrugged his shoulders as I continued to smile at him.

"I have doctorates in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering as well as BAs in Psychology and Sociology." I laughed a little bit and tilted my head as he let go of my hand.

"Well, you have more free time than I do. I'd like to go back to school but between work and my daughter, no time though."

I was shown to my desk by Penelope and sat around with my team. All of a sudden, my cell phone began to ring. I looked and saw that it was my mom's cell phone number. I picked up immediately.

"Hello?" I smiled when I heard Rachel's voice though.

"Hey mommy! Have you checked your purse yet?" I rolled my eyes and began to check my purse for whatever it was that I was supposed to find.

"Honey, just so you know you can't just call me whenever you wa-," I stopped when I saw what she had put in my purse. My eyes watered a little at the picture now in my hands.

"I know, I know mommy but I wanted to make sure that you got your present for your probabtion!" I laughed.

"Promotion honey, I got a promotion. Ah, I love you my little girl." I could practically feel the eye roll over the phone.

"I love you too mommy. I'll see you tonight." I nodded my head as I hung up my cell phone. I smiled and put my favorite picture of Rachel and I on my desk. I smiled at it and then began working on a report that I had to finish for DC.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

* * *

Chapter Two : Time For The Serious Faces!

When I finished my report for DC, I started on a report that Agent Hotchner had given me from a stack that he thought I was qualified enough to profile. Halfway through though, my stomach began to rumble. I could hear my mother's voice in my head.

"Well, if you had eaten breakfast..." I mentally told the voice to shut up as I shook my head. Agent Prentiss sat at the desk in front of me typing away at her computer.

"Hey Prentiss," I smiled as she looked up at me.

"Yeah Alice?"

"Where is the break room in this place?" She pointed down the hallway opposite the one I came in.

"Down there, second door on the left." I thanked her and made my way down there. When I did, I looked through the cabinets and then through the fridge.

"AH-HA!" I had a huge smile on my face as I pulled out a bag of bagels and some cream cheese. I started humming to myself as I opened the bag and took a bagel out. I split it open to smear some cream cheese on the halves and then promptly put the two halves back together again. I placed it on a paper towel and cut it in half with a plastic knife I had found. I put everything back in the fridge and then came back to my bagel. I picked up one half in a napkin and left the other half on the paper towel on the counter. I looked between the two halves for a few seconds before I noticed someone else come in the room. I glanced over to see Agent Reid making himself yet another cup of coffee. I went back to looking between my bagel halves.

"Are you alright Alice?" I looked over at him and nodded my head, only to turn back to my bagel dilemma.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out what to do with the other half of this bagel. I know I'm not going to eat it but I don't want to just throw it away because that would just be a waste." I paused for a brief second to turn towards him before continuing, "And if I leave it in the fridge I know I'll just forget about it, especially if we have to leave, and yet again it would only be a waste. Do you see my problem?" Agent Reid stared at me, blinking a few times, before he snatched the other half of the bagel from the counter and took a bite of it.

"Problem solved," he mumbled through the mouthful. The mother in me couldn't help but narrow my eyes at him.

"You know it's rude to talk with your mouth full, right?" He just nodded his head at me so I rolled my eyes and snickered as I walked back to the bull pen. Just as I did though, Agent Rossi came walking by saying that we had a case.

"Well, here goes nothing," I thought to myself as I walked up to the briefing room.

* * *

My first case with the BAU was thankfully going to be local, but there was still a chance of being gone for more than twenty four hours. Three girls had turned up murdered up near Alexandria and the local police feared that a fourth body was going to turn up tomorrow morning. We were still going to be flying that way we could arrive that much sooner and hopefully help to our fullest extent. I was thankful that I had already packed a go bag and put it in my car. We continued to go over what we knew while we were waiting for the plane to take off. I was thankful when it finally did. Each of the three girls had been between the age of seventeen to nineteen, with blue or grey eyes, and the color of the girls' hair had varied.

"Maybe hair color doesn't matter," I began, "because just look at them, they all seem to have a similar facial structure. They could potentially resemble someone to the unsub." Agent Prentiss agreed with me.

"Alice has a point, but that kinda bothers me." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Think about some girls at that age though, they sure can like their hair color."

Derek snickered and responded with, "Oh yeah, how often does Garcia change hers?"

We continued with the back and forth debates and a preliminary profile had been put together. Our unsub was a white male between the age of 20 to 28, had experienced a loss or rejection of some kind that had triggered his killings. More than likely he had gotten dumped by his girlfriend or fiancee was what I had added in. He probably played poker regularly since all three of our victims had poker chips stuffed down their throats and a king of hearts card was left on their chest. We eventually began looking over the files on our own to see if we could come to any other conclusions about the victims. We were going to have to wait for Garcia called us with the information from the background checks. I was pulling out my phone to check the time real quick when I heard someone say my name. It was Rossi.

"Hey Alice, do you have any of our numbers?" I shook my head in response to the question. He held out his hand and I handed my phone to him. He handed me his and then we all began to exchange numbers. Believe it or not, I was finished putting in my one number into their five phones before they could put their five numbers in my one phone. Derek seemed to be having trouble though, and I honestly didn't trust the smirk he had on his face. So when I finally got my phone back, I scrolled through the new names to try and find them. Yeah, Derek is an asshole.

"Baby Girl? Boss Man? Boy Wonder? Is this some kinda joke between you guys that I'm not in on yet? I'm guessing Chocolate Thunder is Derek though," I paused to look at everyone but then went back to my phone, "Who the hell is Italian Player? Oh wait...it's spelled with an a...let me try and say it right...Italian Playa. And Princess Prentiss? Well," I looked over at her, "at least I'll know when you're calling." Everybody seemed to be glaring daggers at Derek but just then the plane began to descend. Time for the serious faces, even though Hotch always seemed to have his on...

* * *

**Author's Note:** I know this is way, way, WAAAAYYY overdue and I'm sorry for that. But yay! Another chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

* * *

Chapter Three : Dead Center

After we landed, we made our way to the police department. Hotch was telling us where he wanted us all to go.

"Spencer, stay here and get to work on a geographical profile. Derek, I want you and Prentiss to go to the latest dump site. Alice, you and Rossi are going to handle talking to the families of the victims. Start with Victoria Schwartz's family first, she was the youngest victim." I nodded my head and then gave Rossi a smile as he was tossed keys to a black SUV. Instead of heading into the actual building, Rossi and I just went and got in the car.

"So, what do we know about Victoria Schwartz?" I flipped open one of my files as Rossi drove us to her parent's house. I scanned over the file and pretty much repeated what was in there.

"Victoria Schwartz was seventeen with dyed aqua hair and gray eyes. She was our youngest victim and her parents saw her at nine thirty last Saturday night. She was supposedly going to bed but when everybody woke up on Sunday, she was gone. Her body was found in a dumpster two blocks from her favorite used book store that same day." Rossi nodded his head while I continued to read over her file.

* * *

When we pulled up to the house, we were greeted by a mother that had clearly been crying, a father that was still in shock, and a little brother who was still trying to make sense of the entire situation. Rossi told me to go check out Victoria's room while he spoke with the parents. I pulled on a pair of latex gloves while I entered the room and then began looking for clues as to where Victoria Schwartz might have gone the night she disappeared. I had only been looking around for a few minutes, but in that time I had found a diary that I bagged and a pack of matches from a local hookah bar. So that could've been where Victoria went.

"Are you going to find the man who hurt my sister?" I turned to see the little boy. I gave him a smile.

"We're going to do our best. What's your name little man?" He stepped forward, sensing that he could trust me.

"I'm Noah." He was such a cutie. He had to be at least two years older than Rachel.

"I'm Alice, it's very nice to meet you Noah." I took off my glove to shake his hand before I continued, "Hey, you and your big sister were close weren't you?" He nodded his head.

"She was my best friend. She helped me with my homework and bullies at school." I couldn't help but feel sorry for this little boy's loss.

"She sounded like an awesome big sis. Hey, do you know where she went on Saturday night?" The moment of hesitation in his eyes told me that he did know where Victoria went, but he was probably sworn to secrecy.

"I heard her on the phone with a friend from her school, they were going to meet up somewhere. I don't know where but they were going to smoke." I glanced at the pack of matches in my hand, found you Victoria. I went downstairs after that and Rossi was wrapping up his interviews with the parents. We left right afterwards.

* * *

At the latest dump site for the latest victim, Prentiss and Morgan were discussing what was around the dump site and how the girls' may have been dumped.

"Well, he certainly has no remorse for killing these women that's for sure," said Prentiss as she looked around.

"No, he doesn't. Not with the way he kills and disposes of the body. There's a lot of hatred toward these women. Sexual assault, torture, and then they are literally just left in the trash. Somebody's angry." They looked around for any clues as to where the most recent victim, Carolyn Rainey, had been previous to this but there was no such luck.

"What I really don't get are the poker chips and the card. He's not trying to send us a message with it. I wonder if the chips could be from a local place. I know there have to be some kind of underground games that go on around here somewhere." Prentiss continued to look around while Derek pulled out his phone and called his Baby Girl.

"You reached the offices of the all-knowing and ever powerful Penelope Garcia. How can I assist you sugar?" Derek couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, listen up Baby Girl, we need to know of any kind of poker games that go on around town. Above and underground. Try and find a match to those chips if you can." Derek heard Garcia's fingers begin to work their magic on her keyboard.

"You got it hot stuff. I'll get back to you." Just as Derek was about to say his goodbye, Garcia spoke up again, "Hey, how's Alice doing?"

He smiled at her thoughtfulness.

"She's smart, that's for sure. And she's going to be an asset, I can tell you that much. Hotch put her with Rossi to interview the families," was his response.

"Well, you gave her my number right? In case she needs anything." Derek couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, I gave her your number." He continued to snicker as Prentiss glared at him for a second and then returned to her work. But Penelope Garcia was not amused.

"Derek Morgan! What did you do!" Derek did his best to tell Garcia that he did nothing, but that shit didn't fly with Garcia. She would get him later. They hung up though and Prentiss and Morgan got back into their SUV and drove back to the police station.

* * *

Spencer Reid was doing his best on working out the geographical profile. So far he narrowed down the dump sites within a five mile radius comfort zone. He had let Hotch know and Hotch went to tell the beat cops so they would know where to canvas. He had to have been working on it for a little over half an hour when Alice and Rossi returned to the station. Alice set a bagged diary down on the table and looked over at Spencer.

"I got this from Victoria Schwartz's room. Also," she pulled out a pack of matches and tossed it onto the table, "there was this. The little brother told me that he heard Victoria on the phone with a friend Saturday night and that they were going to meet up to smoke. I think that hookah bar is where they went to meet." Spencer studied the pack of matches for a minute while Rossi pulled out his cell phone so that he could call Garcia.

"What can I do for you sir?" was the first question out of the woman's mouth.

"Garcia, you have me, Spencer, and Alice here. Did any of the victims use their credit cards or make an ATM transaction near the Cairo Cafe before they were killed?" All three waited in silence while Garcia snapped away on her keys.

"Well what do you know, both Carolyn Rainey and Christina Kelley used their credit cards there the nights before their bodies were found." Rossi turned to look at Spencer.

"Where is that geographically in the profile?" Spencer looked down at his map and then back up at Rossi.

"That's right in the dead center of the comfort zone." All three profilers stood in silence for a second. They had figured out where the unsub was picking up the girls.

* * *

**Author's Note:** WOO HOO! Another chapter! And it's a long one! Please R&R! I love to hear feedback! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

* * *

Chapter Four : Time To Snag Me An Unsub

When Derek and Prentiss had finally come back to the station, Hotch informed them of what we had found out about where our unsub picked up his victims. We had checked, and the next poker game was tonight. So there was bound to be a girl taken and killed tonight if we couldn't stop it first.

"Gates, I read in your file that you were often the one who went undercover with your old team," I nodded my head in response.

"Yes sir. It's cause I'm the youngest." Hotch seemed to think for a second.

"Well, you may be going undercover again. Do you know what kind of kids go to a hookah bar?" I opened my mouth to speak, but I was cut off by Reid.

"Kids at the age of 17 to adults in their forties can frequent hookah bars but -." I raised an eyebrow at him and cut him off.

"Actually, it's mostly college kids unless it's targeted towards a specific age group. I used to hang out at one while I was in college. But then again, I was 17 when I started college." Hotch gave a small nod.

"Well, you're going undercover tonight since you haven't been seen yet," I started thinking about what clothing I was more than likely going to have to cut up so I could look like a damn college kid again. "And Derek will go with you. You two can come up with a back story, I'm sure." I gulped hard and looked over at Derek, praying that the shock wasn't reading on my face. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

"She seemed afraid of him? Of our Derek? Derek Morgan?" Penelope Garcia radiated surprise through the phone to Emily Prentiss.

"I didn't say afraid Pen, I said tense. She tensed up when Hotch said that Derek had to go with her," Emily responded. "Though I don't know why he picked Morgan, if Alice is supposedly going to dress as a teen and Derek is going to be, well, Derek. I think he's just going for back-up though, so Hotch can gauge what Alice really is capable of."Garcia nodded her head in agreement, though she was going to have a little chat with little Miss Alice Gates later.

"Alright, well, I've got your list of names of men who were at the last few poker games when our victims went missing. I've sent them all to your phones with pictures. Call me if you need anything else!" Emily Prentiss thanked Penelope and the two hung up. She began scrolling through the information, eliminating men who didn't fit the profile.

* * *

"I guess the best back story would be not to have one," I said to Derek. I was in the woman's restroom changing into my altered clothes. "I mean, I can't really think of one that doesn't seem questionable."

"I hear you. You and I should just work the bar from different angles but we should still have communication." I agreed with him and breathed a sigh of relief knowing I wouldn't have him all over me during the night as I pulled on the high wasted jeans I had cut into shorts. I tucked the ends of my white printed tank top that read "Love is my Religion" on it. I had taken out my contacts and was now wearing my black glasses but had pulled my contacts case out real quick just to make sure that it was still there for later. I pulled on a pair of dark red, hand knit, baggy socks on and then put my black low top Converse on. For the finishing touch, I took my favorite bright purple beanie out of my bag and shoved it on my head. I gave myself a one over in the mirror. I was going to need a jacket or something to cover my gun. I'd worry about that in a little bit. When I walked out of the locker room, I walked past Derek, he didn't even recognize me. I snickered a little bit and then he looked at me.

"Whoa! Alice?" I nodded my head, "Damn! You look like you're about seventeen!"

"Yep, this is why I was always the one undercover."I grew anxious and nervous under his gaze, but I did my best to mask it. We walked back to where Hotch, Prentiss, and Reid were giving the profile to the cops. Nearly everybody had to do a double take when I walked into the room and sat down, nobody recognized me and I couldn't help but smile, my old team was used to seeing me like this.

I waited until Hotch was done, time was ticking and Derek and I had to get to the Cairo Cafe. All the poker games were going to be starting soon. Once he was finished, Prentiss walked up to me.

"Holy shit! What I would give to look that young sometimes. You've got a gift." I laughed and gave her a wide smile.

"It's not a gift, it's a superpower!" She laughed in return as Hotch and Reid walked up. I smiled at them. Hotch spoke first.

"So, what's you're back story?" I looked over at Derek, and he spoke up as if on cue.

"We decided that the best back story is not to have one. If Alice is going to be a teen and I'm going to be, well, me, it'll be better if we are strangers but we can still be each others' back up."

"We're both going to have ear pieces and mics though so we can still communicate," I chimed in. Hotch nodded.

"Alright. Derek, you go in first, Alice will follow behind you in a separate car. Reid will drop you off." I nodded my head and smiled at Reid. He was distracted by something, but then he smiled back at me.

That took place about half a hour ago. Derek had left right after and I was climbing back into a black SUV with Reid after I made him stop at a gas station. I opened up a pack of Camel Crushes and tucked one behind my ear and stuffed the pack into my pocket.

"You know that for every cigarette you smoke, it takes six minutes off your life." I rolled my eyes and looked at him.

"I know. I'm just using them as a prop. I mean, I haven't smoked a cigarette in about four years and I don't plan on starting up again anytime soon Dad." He gave me a strange look when I called him Dad, but I focused on where we were headed.

I hummed along to the radio for the remainder of the ride, and as I got out, I made sure to make it look like I was getting dropped off by a sibling. Just in case our unsub overheard me.

"Cindy and Lizzy should be here already but you know how flaky they can be. I'll call you when I'm ready to go if they can't give me a ride. Is that cool?" Spencer nodded his head.

"That's fine with me Alice. See you later." I started to walk off but then at the door, I turned back to shout.

"See ya bro!" I waved at him vigorously with a huge smile and then went inside. Time to snag me an unsub.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yeah, this is a short chapter I know. I'm trying my best to get from point A to point B. Hopefully, the next chapter will be better. *crosses fingers*


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

* * *

Chapter Five : Welcome to the BAU Kid

When Penelope Garcia got off the phone with Emily Prentiss, she decided to dig a little bit deeper into Alice Gates' background. She began typing away furiously at her keyboard, all while watching the computer screen as one by one, articles about Alice Gates began popping up. The first couple of articles were about the kidnapping.

_Rachel and Alice Gates, Children Stolen in Broad Daylight_

"Tell me something I don't already know," Garcia muttered to the screen. Just then though, something new cropped up.

_Daughter of Chicago Congressman Found Beat in Virginia Beach Home_

"WHAT!" exclaimed Garcia as she began to read the article.

_Alice Gates(15), the adopted daughter of Victor and Katherine Castro, was found beat in a Virginia Beach home earlier this morning. Police had been called to the home due to excessive noise that had been disturbing neighbors. "Upon arriving at the home, everything seemed normal. It was just a party gone out of control," said police officer Dan Rutherford, "but when we stepped inside and people began to scatter, that was when we heard the screaming." The police rushed to the source of the screaming where Alice Gates was found. EMT's rushed to the scene soon afterwards._  
_"It was terrible," stated medic Jane Winstead, "here was this fifteen year old girl, so full of life, and she was terrified to let anyone touch her. She kept screaming out, 'I'm fine! I'm fine! Don't touch me!" Gates was admitted to Sentara Leigh hospital where, upon arrival, it was said that she had, "a broken leg, at least three broken ribs, a possible contusion or concussion, a few lesions, and a lot of bruising," by a nurse who helped get Gates into surgery for her ribs and leg._  
_Several party goers were interviewed, but none of them seemed to know what had happened to Gates. One thing was for certain, Gates' boyfriend, Tony Davenport(17), was nowhere to be found. Some say he had left the party right before the police had arrived._  
_For the time being, Gates is recovering under the watchful eyes of Sentara Leigh's finest nurses and doctors. Gates' parents have hired a guard to remain by her side until a point in time when she can be moved back home to Chicago. There is still an investigation that will be conducted, but with Gates supposedly refusing to speak, her attacker will more than likely go on unpunished._

When Penelope finished reading the article, there were tears threatening to overflow from her eyes.

"Oh Alice, sweetie, what happened to you?"

* * *

I couldn't have been at the Cairo Cafe for more than an hour. I had ordered some food and a soda, telling my waitress that I was waiting for my friends. When she saw me looking over the different tobacco combinations there were, she asked for my ID. She looked at my fake one that said I was nineteen and then looked at me and I rolled my eyes as she walked away. If she only knew I was really twenty four, part of the FBI, and here to catch a serial killer. Her pretty blond head would probably spin off her shoulders. I had been looking through the updated suspect list that Prentiss had sent me, and I had seen several of the guys there. One gave me a creeper vibe, but he wasn't our unsub. If he could some how coerce pretty teenagers to leave with him, he had to be normal. Normal and more than likely super good looking. That was when the chair next to me moved.

"Hey there, wanna be my lucky charm for the next round?" I looked over at the man who had sat down next to me. He was cute, cute and on my list. I had just looked over his info. I gave him a wide smile.

"Sure!" I said, trying to be super perky. "My friends could be showing up at any minute though, but I'll be your lucky charm." He gave me a smirk and I started trying to remember everything I could about Kenneth Corrado. He was 26, he didn't have a record, and he had been here for every game when our victims went missing.

"That's cool, come sit by me?" I nodded my head.

"Just let me pay for my food and I'll be right over." He left after rubbing my shoulder real quick. I pulled out my wallet and then looked around for Derek. Where the hell was he? I didn't see him, so I brought my wrist up to my mouth, I had placed my mic on a bracelet I was wearing.

"Derek, where are you? I think I just got picked up by the unsub." I tried to be as discreet as I could, just in case Kenneth was watching me.

"What! I stepped outside to get some fresh air! I'm coming back in now, don't move!" I paid my tab and then saw Derek come back inside. I made sure that he saw me walk over to where Kenneth was sitting. He smiled up at me and I gave him a wide smile back as I sat down next to him. I flipped my hair over my shoulder to see Derek talking on the phone while frequently looking back at me.

* * *

"Alice seems to be doing just fine by herself." Thought Derek Morgan as he stepped outside for some fresh air. She was sitting at a table, messing with her phone, getting carded by the waitress. Alice looked and acted like a teenager. It amazed Derek, but then again, she had trained herself to do this so she could catch criminals. He couldn't have been outside for more than ten minutes when Alice's voice filled his ear.

"Derek, where are you? I think I just got picked up by the unsub." Derek freaked out internally as he looked around outside.

"What! I stepped outside to get some fresh air! I'm coming back in now, don't move!" Derek headed back inside the Cairo Cafe as quickly as he could and looked around for Alice. Derek watched her pay for her food and then walked over to where the poker games were being held. He saw her sit down with a guy but Derek couldn't make out his face. He pulled out his cellphone and called Hotch.

"Hotchner." He breathed out a sigh. Hotch was going to be pissed.

"Hotch, Alice thinks she just got picked up by the unsub,"he braced himself.

"What! What the hell happened? Where is she?" Hotch seemed to be going a mile a minute.

"We're both still here at Cairo Cafe, I stepped outside for not even ten minutes to get some fresh air. Apparently, Alice may be his type tonight." Derek could practically see Hotch's scowl getting deeper in his face.

"Alright, as long as they don't leave together. I'm going to have Reid call her in a little bit. It'll be a little too strange if he called her now especially if they just sat down together and you just called me. Just keep an eye on her. If he tries anything with her, I give you permission to move in." Derek nodded his head.

"Alright sir." They hung up and Derek took a seat near the poker games so that he could keep an eye on Alice and so that Alice could see him, but not so close as to raise suspicion if the unsub saw the two looking at each other too often. Now, it was time to wait and watch.

* * *

Kenneth and I had been laughing and talking with each other for a half hour. He liked me, it helped that he had been winning since I had come to sit with him. At one point, one of his friends leaned over.

"Where do you keep finding these cute girls Kenny? I mean last week you had that girl Victoria all over you." My eyes went wide, that couldn't be just a coincidence. A few minutes afterwards, my phone began to ring. I looked down to see "Boy Wonder" flashing on my screen. I smiled over at Kenneth.

"It's just my big brother, he's probably wondering if I'm ready to go. I'll be right back." I got up and Kenneth watched me as I walked over to the hallway where the bathroom was.

"Helllooo?" I wanted to try and seem as normal as possible just in case someone, mainly Kenneth, overheard me.

"Alice, it's Spencer. Are you alright?" I laughed lightly, happy to hear a familiar voice.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine bro." I looked around nervously.

"Do you think the guy you're with is the unsub," he asked.

"They never showed. But I met this guy, Kenneth, he's pretty killer." I shook my head, this part, trying to be discreet and getting messages across to my team. Yeah, I wasn't very good at that. I heard Spencer smack his forehead.

"Do you think you can get yourself out of there?" I bit my lip and then felt a hand on my shoulder. I yelped and turned around.

"Hey Alice, the game just ended. Need a ride home?" It was Kenneth. I held my phone to my shoulder but I could hear Spencer shouting in my ear.

"No, my brother is on his way to come get me. He'd get pissed if I left with someone he hasn't met." Kenneth wasn't about to give up, so I picked my phone back up. I was going to kick this guys ass if he even tried anything with me. "Hey Spence, Kenneth is going to give me a ride home."

"Are you sure? Will you be okay," I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I can take care of myself." I prayed that I could.

Walking out of the Cafe with Kenneth, I didn't dare risk a glance at Derek. I did hear him talking on his phone though. I hoped they were coming up with some kinda plan. Kenneth wrapped an arm around my waist, right above my gun, as we walked out the door. I heard a click and then felt something sharp in my side.

"Don't scream, don't run, just walk," Kenneth whispered in my ear with a deadly tone. I nodded my head, playing the scared little girl, until we got to his car. Kenneth unlocked and opened the passenger side door, "Get in, stupid slut!" I pulled away quickly, took the knife, threw it, and whipped out my gun.

"I don't think so Kenneth." He put up his hands, but that didn't last for very long, because he took off right after. I saw Derek come running, "He went that way," I yelled at him as I climbed up on top of the cars to get a better view. Derek had already high tailed it after him while I was hopping from car to car in an attempt to catch up. I miss stepped though, and fell face forward into another car. I knew I had just broken my nose, but I didn't care. I just shook it off and ran with all my might. A gun shot rang out and then I heard the sirens.

When I finally caught up to Derek, he was cuffing Kenneth. The gun shot I heard must have been a warning. I holstered my weapon and walked up just as local police and the rest of the team pulled up. Rossi was the first one to walk up to me while Derek was handing over Kenneth.

"Are you alr- What happened?" I made a "huh" sound as I looked over at him.

"What are you talking about Rossi," I asked as the rest of the team walked up.

"Your nose," I remembered then, I fell off a car and hit another one. A wave of pain swept over my face as I touched it.

"OW! FUCK that hurts! My face hit a car, that's what happened." I kept on cussing and screaming as Rossi led me over to the paramedics.

"Well, welcome to the BAU kid, you did a good job." I smiled up at the older man.

"Thanks."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hooray for super long chapter! And the team caught the killer! With the help of Alice! I love reviews!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

* * *

Chapter Six : When it Came to Chess

After I had gotten my nose patched up, with some more screaming on my part and an order to see my doctor as soon as I got back home to make sure my nose was healing properly, we were waiting at the tarmac to fly back home. I was feeding money into a soda machine, trying to get a Lipton Citrus Green Tea, when my phone began to sing.

_"What kind of magic spell to use?_  
_Slime and snails or puppy dog tails?_  
_Thunder or lightning, then baby said_  
_Dance magic, dance!"_

I smiled as I picked it up.

"Yes honey?"

"Hi mommy! Are you going to be home soon?" I looked down at my watch. The jet wasn't going to be ready for another twenty minutes and then it was a forty minute flight back. Plus the drive to Quantico, finishing and filing all my reports, and lastly there was the drive home. I bit my lip.

"No sweetie, it'll be a while before I'm home. But I'll be there in the morning when you wake up." I could feel the disappointment through the phone.

"I miss you mama." I sighed and leaned against the drink machines. Rachel only called me mama when she was truly upset.

"I miss you too baby. I'll tell you what, you hop into bed, put the phone on speaker on your nightstand, and wind up your music box. I'll sing you to sleep and before you know it, it'll be morning and I'll be waking you up." I giggled as I heard her run around her room. Spencer came around the corner just then and was about to say something, but stopped when he saw I was on the phone. I smiled at him and he smirked back.

"I'm ready mama!" I giggled again.

"Alright honey, let it go." I heard the music box begin to pay the familiar little melody I had grown up hearing at bed time. I began singing after the first measure.

_Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,_  
_Go to sleep my little baby._  
_When you wake you shall have_  
_All the pretty little horses._  
_Black and bays, dapples, grays,_  
_All the pretty little horses._  
_Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,_  
_Go to sleep my little baby._  
_Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,_  
_Go to sleep my little baby._  
_When you wake you shall have_  
_All the pretty little horses._

I heard the music box stop just after I did. There was some shuffling and then I heard a button click.

"Is she asleep," I asked.

"Like always love," my mother responded.

"Alright mom, I love you and I'll be home as soon as I can." I let out a yawn.

"Be safe." I chuckled.

"Always." We said our goodbyes and then I looked at Spencer.

"What's up Doc?" I opened my drink and took a sip. It was cold perfection.

"The jet's ready to go. Everybody's already boarded." I nodded my head and picked up my go bag.

"Cool," I stated. Spencer walked with me to the plane.

"How's your nose?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"It's where all the pain is concentrated but my entire face hurts and my head won't stop pounding. I got this," I showed him my drink, "so I can take some ibuprofen." Spencer nodded his head. I yawned as we continued walking towards the plane and I even considered taking a nap on the flight, but I wanted to get my reports done that way I could get home that much quicker.

When we did get on the plane though, both Prentiss and Morgan were out cold. Rossi and Hotch were working on their reports. I sat down at one of the seats with the tables and Reid sat down across from Rossi. The plane took off right afterwards, and when we were allowed to move around again, I pulled a pair of black leggings out of my go bag. I still hadn't changed out of my shorts and I wanted to. I went into the plane's bathroom, took off my Converse and did just that. I went back to my seat and tossed back the ibuprofen that I had meant to take earlier.

"Mom is going to kill me when she sees me," I thought. I pulled out my Ipod, put it on shuffle, and got to work on my report. I couldn't have been working for more than twenty minutes when I stood up to stretch. I looked around, I must have been the only one awake at this point. I danced over to the little mini fridge in the back of the plane and then nearly screamed when I stood back up when I saw that everybody was not asleep. I ripped one of my ear buds out of my ears.

"Are you okay Alice?" I nodded my head and tried not to burst out laughing at the look on Spencer's face.

"Yeah, you just startled me that's all. I thought everybody else was asleep." He shook his head with pursed lips.

"Nope, are you still working?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I was about to take a break though cause I'm almost done." That was when I noticed that he was holding something in his right arm.

"Do you know how to play chess," I shook my head at his question and then smiled at him.

"Nope, but I'm always willing to learn." He smiled at me and then we sat down at the table I had been working at. I put away my files so that he could set up the chess board. He began explaining the pieces one by one, and I paid attention while bobbing my head to a song I was listening to. I offered him the other ear bud when he looked at me weird, which he seemed really fond of doing. He took the proffered ear bud and stuck it in his right ear whereas mine was in my left ear. I set the Ipod down on the table between us.

"You're white so you get to go first. And I'll go easy on you since it's your first time." I stuck my tongue out at Spencer, then studied the pieces for a minute and finally picked a pawn to move. I pulled up one of my legs, placed my chin on my knee and waited for Spencer to make his move.

"So tell me about yourself Boy Wonder," I said. Spencer scowled as he made his move finally.

"What do you want to know?" I tried to think about a good subject to talk about as I moved another pawn.

"What is your favorite color?" His head snapped up right as he picked up a piece to move with a raised eyebrow.

"My favorite color?" I laughed quietly.

"I have to start somewhere Spencer!" He nodded his head and then started to think as he moved his chess piece.

* * *

Alice Gates was something unexpected to Spencer Reid. She was quick to laugh and easy to talk to. She was sarcastic, but not in a mean way. Spencer even understood her sarcasm. She was just, different, and Spencer found himself liking the new agent more and more. They bantered back and forth until the descent lights came on. It was then that Alice pointed something out about the chess game.

"Hey Spencer, checkmate! I think?" Spencer looked at the board and his jaw dropped a little. Alice Gates had beat him, Spencer Reid. The only other person who had beat him at chess was Jason Gideon.

"Yeah, that's checkmate." Alice held out her hand for Spencer to shake.

"I had an awesome teacher." She threw Spencer a wink as he shook her hand. Spencer tried his best to hide the blush growing on his cheeks while he scowled at the chess board, trying to figure out just how she she had beaten him. But deep down, Spencer knew how she had beaten him. It was her pretty golden green eyes, soft dark hair that was like raven's feathers, and that easy smile that had distracted him. Little did Spencer Reid know, he would always lose to Alice Gates when it came to chess.

* * *

**Author's Note:** If anybody can guess the ringtone Alice has for Rachel and what movie it's from, you get a cookie!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

* * *

Chapter Seven : A Good End

The rest of my first week was a difficult blur. Tuesday, we never got called for a case but we had one on waiting for us first thing Wednesday morning. We didn't get back until Thursday afternoon. Thankfully, the team all got a couple hours off. I took Rachel and my mom to lunch and then ran home to re-pack my go bag. Another case was waiting when I returned to the office. It was now nearly one in the morning Friday night/Saturday morning. I had just finished my report on the jet, though we still had another two hours of flying to go. I pulled some knitting out, I had learned to bring some with me to work all the time because it was the plane rides home that were the longest. I started humming as I worked on my latest project, a sweater for one of my two godsons. The sweater I had been working on for Rachel was finished and resting in my closet for her birthday next month. Rossi and Hotch were sitting in the back of the plane, asleep, while the rest of us were sitting up. I hadn't really been paying attention to what they were talking about until I heard Prentiss say my name.

"Aly!" I looked up.

"Yeah?" She smiled at me.

"What were you like back in high school?" I laughed at the question.

"Do you wanna know about before or after Rachel? Cause before Rachel is better and much more colorful," I said to my fellow profiler.

"Before Rachel then!" Derek said. I was still tense around him, but I thought I was getting better. It didn't help that he had gotten closer to me, along with Spencer and Emily, to try and hear me. I didn't want to wake Hotch and Rossi. I sat up a little straighter and smiled, thinking about my younger and much wilder days.

"Well, before Rachel, my hair was sea foam green with hot pink tips. I had a ring through my nose. I favored purple lipstick and there was a month or two when I wore cat ears just about everywhere. I hung out with the goths and nerds at my school. Nobody messed with my friends without a sound verbal, sometimes even physical, beating. I sang Disney songs, which I still do from time to time, at every chance I got. I smoked, a lot. It was kinda gross actually. Um," even though it felt like yesterday, there were some details that I had trouble remembering, "let's see, I was a freak in all honesty. The only time I felt normal, well, actually I still felt abnormal when I danced. But it was the good kind of abnormal, I felt beautiful." I blushed and sighed a little and then went back to my knitting, making a mental note to change my decreases by a row.

"You had sea foam green hair?" I laughed and looked up at Spencer.

"Yeah, with hot pink tips! If you ever come over to my house...OH MY GOSH! MY HOUSE! I forgot to tell you guys! I'm having a Fourth of July party next Saturday. You guys are all more than welcome to come." Derek busted out laughing, Emily hit him upside the head, and Spencer just kept scowling at me. I think he was trying to paint a picture of me in the way I had just described myself.

"Will you kids SHUT UP!" We turned to look at Rossi, who had just shouted at us.

"How about you shut up too Rossi?" Hotch was now glaring at Rossi, Rossi was glaring at us, and we all did our best to be quiet for the rest of the plane ride.

* * *

Prentiss and I were discussing my Fourth of July party next weekend and if there was anything she could do to help me out as we were walking into the Quantico building. We had just stepped into the elevator when I pulled out my cellphone to check my messages.

"My mom called me four times. I hope everything is okay." I dialed my mom's cell number and only had to wait a few seconds for her to pick up.

"Alice, I can't find Rachel anywhere! She's been missing for over an hour now!" She was panicking and the first thing I had to do was calm her down.

"Mom, I'm sure Rachel isn't missing. She probably just has some new hiding spot that you don't know about. Have you checked the attic?" As I went over all of my daughter's favorite hiding places at my mother's house, I could feel Prentiss' eyes on me. We stepped out of the elevator, but I stayed there as I talked with my mother.

"Alice, I've looked in every single room in this house. I'm positive that she is missing!" I rubbed my forehead.

"Look mom, I should be there within the hour. I'll look for her when I get there. Just, calm down. Maybe she fell asleep in a closet or something. You know how weird that kid is, she is mine after all." I hung up with her afterwards, then began walking towards the office. I was still looking at my phone when I ran into the back of Derek with a loud "Oomf" on my part.

"Alice, do you know the kid who is sleeping at your desk," asked Rossi.

"What?" I pushed past the rest of my team. There sat my beautiful daughter, curled up and sound asleep in my desk chair. Penelope came walking up behind us just then.

"She's been here for about an hour or two I think. She was asleep when I found her so I put a blanket on her." I sighed and turned to smile at her.

"Thanks Garcia, I guess I need to go wake her up and take her home." I saw Spencer shake his head out of the corner of my eye.

"Home?" I laughed at the question. I keep forgetting that most people are always confused when they see me and Rachel next to each other for the first time. Her skin, the color of warm hot chocolate, was so different from my Irish pale.

"Yep, that's my daughter Rachel. And it's funny, I know I should be furious with her right now, but I just can't bring myself to even be a little mad." I walked over to her and set my go bag down quietly. I got down so that I was level with her. I began to stroke her nose slowly. I giggled when she eventually began to swat away my hand. She opened her eyes slowly after that, but they snapped open when they saw me.

"MAMA!" I laughed as she flung herself onto me.

"Hey baby doll!" She buried her face into my chest and I was vaguely aware of the rest of the team taking their seats around us.

"I missed you," was what she said after a few minutes.

"I missed you too honey but you can't just leave Grandma. She's very worried about you right now. How did you even get here anyway?" She shuffled on her feet before looking up at me.

"I called Grandpa's car service and pretended to be Grandma. They believed me." The look of shock that must have been on my face was probably cartoon worthy. I smacked my forehead.

"More importantly, how did you even get in the building," I asked after rubbing my face. Rachel dug through her jacket pocket and held up my old badge.

"It still works," she replied as a question. I shook my head.

"Kid, sometimes you really amaze me." Rachel giggled as I stood back up. "Alright, I have to put some stuff into the computer and then we can go home alright," she nodded her head, "but you have to call Grandma and tell her that you're sorry for leaving and making her worry." I handed her my cell phone and pulled another chair over as I let my computer boot up. She called my mom and apologized. I heard her crying at one point and just rolled my eyes, my mother could be so over dramatic sometimes. Rachel then took a seat next to me.

"Hey mom," I knew that tone, she was trying to get something out of me.

"Yes honey?"

"Can we start an alpaca farm?" I shook my head and looked at her like she was crazy.

"Rachel, where on earth would we put them," I asked her.

"Well, we have a big backyard," she tried pouting, but that wasn't going to fly with me. I began to log into my FBI account to try and get these files done.

"Not a big enough one for an alpaca farm." Rachel began to spin the chair she was sitting in.

"Well, then can we get a platypus?" I began typing as I tried my best not to laugh. She had been watching too much Phineas and Ferb.

"No Rachel, we can't get a platypus. And before you ask, no he wouldn't go live in the pool." Rachel muttered something after that. I gave her my phone and told her to play with it. It entertained her for all of fifteen minutes.

"Mom, I have to go to the bathroom." I sighed, I was so close to being done.

"Alright, come on munchkin." I led her to the west bathrooms, "Do you know how to get back from here?" When she nodded her head and repeated how to get back to me, I walked back to the office. Emily and Spencer both looked up at me as I went to sit down. I put my head down on my desk and began repeating "I love my child" over and over again. I popped my head up and then tried my best to speed finish on my file. Which I did finish, right as Rachel came walking back into the room. I saved my work and then e-mailed to where I needed it to go. I looked around for Rachel, she had stopped to stare at Spencer. When he paused working to glance at her though, she came running over to me and hid behind me.

"He's cute mom," she whispered in my ear. I laughed and smiled at her. She was blushing, it was adorable.

"Well, I'm done. Ready to go home?" She nodded her head as I stood up with my purse and go bag slung over my shoulder. Rachel raised her arms, her way of letting me know that she wanted me to pick her up. I groaned as I did, "Kid, you are getting too heavy for this." She giggled and placed her head on my shoulder. I said goodnight to Spencer and Emily, who were both still working. I stopped by Penelope's office to say goodnight to her and return her blanket to her. As we were talking for a quick second, I heard Rachel's stomach rumble.

"Mommy, I'm hungry." My stomach echoed hers right after she said that. Penelope and I laughed.

"I am too apparently. How do blueberry pancakes at IHOP sound right now?" Rachel's eyes lit up.

"Oh Lordie, that sounds delicious." I laughed at Penelope.

"Wanna meet up with us when you're done?" She nodded her head. I told her which IHOP we were going to be at and then I headed down to the parking lot with my six year old in tow. I was putting her into her car seat when she began to look around frantically.

"MAMA! I left Bunny in the building!" Bunny was Rachel's stuffed pink rabbit that I had made for her when I found out I was pregnant with her. She wouldn't sleep until I had gotten that bunny back. I sighed as I looked up at the building. Deal with her crying and screaming for one night or go and get the damn rabbit? Just then, I saw Reid come running out. He had Bunny in his hand. He looked around for me.

"SPENCER!" He saw me right afterwards and came jogging over. He bent over to catch his breath.

"I found it in the hallway on the way to the bathroom." Rachel looked over and got out of the car.

"BUNNY! Thank you!" Spencer handed the rabbit to her and Rachel hugged it tightly. "Don't you ever scare me like that again Bunny!" I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. I looked up at Spencer.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it." He shrugged his shoulders.

"No problem. Have a good night." I smiled at him, he really didn't have to do that. We said good night again and I got Rachel buckled into her car seat. We went to IHOP afterwards, where we had blueberry pancakes with Penelope. All in all, it was a good end to a not so good week.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I don't really have one...but YAY! Long chapter! And Rachel thinks that Spencer is cute!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

* * *

Chapter Eight : Our Day Out

Saturday was a blur after Rachel and I went home, I remember sleeping for a while and then I forget what we did. I think we stayed home and relaxed while I worked on reports to profile. Sunday was a very good day though. I got up bright and early to make breakfast for Rachel and I. We were sitting at the kitchen table, I was looking through the Sunday paper's ads to see if there were any good sales on yarn. Rachel was reading the comics and giggling hysterically every now and again.

"Mommy, can we go to the park and the bookstore today?" I set down the ad I was looking at and smiled at my beautiful little girl.

"Of course we can, it's nice out. The park sounds like a wonderful idea and as for the bookstore, you know I can never say no when you ask me that. Plus, Joann's is having a great sale on some yarn I need. So we can go there too!" Rachel was practically bouncing out of her seat. I told her to go play for a little bit while I went to take a shower.

I turned on my radio as I turned on the water and got undressed from my pajamas as I waited for the water to heat up. I decided that I was just going to do a quick shampoo of my hair and scrub of my body. My legs were still okay since I had shaved them sometime last night. When I got out of the shower, I dried off and then blow dried my curly hair so it wouldn't be too terribly frizzy. In y room, I picked out some undergarments and then went through my closet since I had decided to wear a dress. I picked out one of my favorites. The top of the dress was a rust colored orange with some ruffle detailing on the neckline. At my waistline, the fabric changed to a navy blue fabric with a tiny wild flower pattern on it that flowed out just past my mid thigh. It was short and I felt pretty in it. It was the ability to wear dresses like this that made me love summer.

I picked out a pair of low top navy blue Converse and wrapped a tawny colored belt around my waist. I grabbed a light white cardigan and the tote bag I typically carried with me when we went to the park. I picked a book off my shelf and shoved it in the bag along with a pair of sunglasses and then left my room. Rachel was in her room, playing with some of her toys. I helped her pick out some clothes and then left as she started to get dressed.

I went downstairs to the kitchen so that I could load the dishwasher while Rachel got ready to leave. I smiled to myself as I heard her come bounding down the stairs.

"Mommy! I'm ready!" She came running over to me and I swept her up in a big hug.

"Alright sweetie, go get in the car." I put down the dish cloth I was holding so I could pick up my tote bag and car keys. I walked around the house, making sure all the doors were locked as I did so. I began humming as I walked into the garage. Rachel was giggling in the car and talking to Bunny, who was coming with us. Rachel had already buckled herself in, so I got into the driver's seat and buckled myself in.

"To the park!" I laughed.

"How about this, we go to Joann's and then Teavana because we're out of tea first. And then we'll go to the park for a bit, Joey's Diner for lunch and last but not least, we'll go to the bookstore." Rachel started bouncing in the car.

"Okay! That sounds perfect!" I smiled at her and then turned on the car, the radio was already set to our favorite station and Rachel began to sing along to the song playing. Then, we were off, both of us excited about our day out.

At Joann's, I stocked up on yarn I would need to get a few Christmas presents out of the way. Yeah, I knew it was July but there were things I needed to go ahead and get done. Then Teavana was normally a relatively quick stop since I typically knew what teas I was going to get. But I also needed to get some more of the German rock sugar they sold. Rachel and I did browse for a little bit though, and tried out some of the new teas that they had just gotten in. In the end I bought my two typical teas, Earl Grey and Lavender Dreams, some of the rock sugar and some Peach Momotaro tea.

Then we went to the park, it was so beautiful out.

"Hey mom," I looked down at Rachel as we walked towards the park bench where I normally sat.

"Yeah honey?"

"Who was the man who brought me Bunny back?" She was hugging onto Bunny at the moment and playing with one of his floppy ears as we walked.

"That was Spencer Reid, he's one of my new team members at work," I responded as we continued walking.

"Spencer," she said quietly. Rachel smiled up at me. "I like him mommy!" I laughed.

"I like him too. He's a very nice man." Rachel went skipping ahead of me, but not out of my line of sight. When we came upon our normal bench, it was occupied by another person and his son. He looked familiar though. And when I could see his profile, I smiled and approached him.

"Hey Hotch, I didn't expect to see you here!" He turned when he heard his name.

"Oh, hi Alice. What are you doing here?" Rachel was hiding behind me, peeking out from behind my legs.

"We were coming to the park so that Rachel here could play and I could soak up some sunshine." He smiled and stood up, followed by his son.

"This is my son, Jack." I smiled down at Jack and scooted down to his level and held out my hand for him to shake.

"Hi Jack, my name is Alice. It's very nice to meet you." Jack seemed a little shy, but nowhere as near as shy as Rachel. He shook my hand.

"It's nice to meet you too. You're very pretty." I smiled sweetly at him.

"Aw! Thank you Jack! You're quite adorable yourself. This is my daughter, Rachel. Why don't you two go play while your dad and I sit here and watch you guys." The kids said hi and then Jack recommended swinging on the swings and then they took off together. I stood up and took a seat next to Hotch.

"Well, it looks like our kids are going to be friends." I nodded my head.

"Sure does Hotch, it sure does." He smiled at me.

"You know, we're not at the office right now. You can call me Aaron." I smiled back at him, he was kinda cute when he actually smiled.

"Okay, Aaron." I pulled out some knitting I had brought with me, and chatted with Aaron as we watched our kids run around the park.

* * *

Spencer had had a good Saturday after he went home, he slept, hung around his apartment reading the books he had meant to read last week, and got food when he was hungry. When he woke up on Sunday morning, he followed his normal routine of showering, getting dressed, leaving to get coffee and breakfast, hanging out in the used bookstore he loved, and then chess in the park with Stephen. He was already there and had the board set up when Spencer finally arrived. It was a gorgeous day out, kids were laughing and running around on the play ground, it was sunny and warm. Spencer and Stephen were in the middle of their third game when Spencer became distracted when he heard his name.

"That was Spencer Reid, he's one of my new team members at work." Spencer looked up to see Alice Gates walking by with Rachel, the cute little girl he had seen the other night who had turned out to be Alice's young daughter. Spencer's breath caught in his throat as he saw Alice in full. She had left her dark hair down and flowing, the dress she was wearing showed off how long and lean her legs were, and when she laughed at Rachel, her smile was infectious. Spencer couldn't help but smile.

In Spencer's mind she looked, "Beautiful." He hadn't meant to say that out loud. Stephen was waving his hand in front of Spencer's face.

"Are you alright man? It's your move." Spencer nodded his head and continued the game with Stephen while continuing to follow where Alice was walking, even after she was out of earshot. But when Spencer saw her laughing and talking with another man, a feeling started to build tightly in his chest. And that feeling was jealousy, which left Spencer so absolutely confused as he continued his game with Stephen.

* * *

I didn't know how long I had been sitting on the park bench with Aaron, but it was nice. We mostly talked about our kids and how much we wished we could do more for them because of our jobs. I put down my knitting to stretch my arms and looked over at Aaron.

"Hey, do you know what time it is?" He looked down at his watch.

"It is one forty three." I mentally freaked out.

"Is it seriously that late already? I told Rachel I'd take her to lunch." I looked around the playground until I spotted Rachel and Jack, still playing together, over on the monkey bars. "RACHEL!" When she heard her name, she looked over at me and came running. Jack was right behind her.

"Yeah mommy?" Her face was flushed from running around so much.

"Ready to go eat honey?" She frantically nodded her head at first, but then looked at Jack.

"Can Jack come with us mommy?" I looked over at my boss.

"Want to come eat lunch with us? If you don't have anything planned that is? We were going to Joey's Diner which is literally just around the corner," Aaron shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure, we were just going to go home after this anyway." We smiled at each other and the kids were jumping up and down together. I picked up my bag.

"Well, let's go guys!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** I know I haven't been using "typical" Spencer behaviors but I can say that there will be some in coming chapters! But please keep in mind, he's slowly falling for Alice.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

* * *

Chapter Nine : So Much for the Good Weekend

Lunch was, to put it simply, the greatest. Rachel and Jack had found great friends in one another needless to say. It was nearly four o'clock when we left the diner and went our separate ways. Rachel and I walked back to the car and then drove to the Barnes and Noble to do some book shopping. Rachel tore off for the kid's section while I went to peruse the craft section for some new knitting books. I got one that looked to have some promising patterns for blankets, one with some patterns for kids, and one about knitting jewelry with yarn. It looked promising. Then Rachel found me. She had picked out three new books. When I saw that she had two of the same books, I asked her why she needed two copies.

"That way when you're gone at work, we can read together still." I ruffled her hair, took her books and we went home after I bought them.

It was now Monday morning, and I was yawning in the break room. I had made myself a cup of coffee and was fixing a bagel. I cut it in half, placed the halves on two plates, and set one down by the coffee pot where Spencer was fixing himself a third cup. After my first day, I had just started giving him the other half. It was just what we had started doing. I was walking back to my desk when I bumped into Hotch.

"Oh, sorry sir," I said as he just kinda smiled at me.

"Good morning Alice." I smiled back at him, "Can I see you in my office?" I nodded my head and walked with him up towards his office. He shut the door behind us and offered me a seat, which I took.

"So, Rachel has not stopped asking me about Jack after yesterday." He chuckled.

"Jack is doing the same, I think it would be good for them if they saw each other on a regular basis." I nodded my head as I took a sip of my coffee.

"M hmm. I was thinking about that. Maybe some semi-regular play dates, I mean, you and I could set up a schedule easily since we work together." Hotch took a seat at his desk.

"Is it alright if I bring him to your Fourth party this Saturday?" I scoffed at the question.

"Of course! There will be a few neighborhood kids there as well and Rachel's godparents are coming with my three godsons. So it'll be more than fine if Jack comes. I know Rachel will be looking forward to it." We smiled at each other and then Rossi knocked on the door. He poked his head in after he was given the okay from Hotch.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" When we both shook our heads he continued, "Well, we have a case." We stood and made our way to the bullpen as Rossi went to get the rest of the team. Garcia handed me a file, and I began flipping through it as I sat down. When the rest of the team came in and sat down with their files, Garcia began to speak.

"These are victims six and seven in a two week span," the pictures were horrifying to look at.

"All killed with a bladed weapon?" I heard Emily ask.

"Yep, and the attacks are getting progressively worse," replied Garcia.

"The first five were lone victims," stated Spencer as he set his file down on the table.

"He's getting bolder," I added as I looked over the victimology report.

"And more vicious." Derek said right as Hotch looked down at his watch and then to Garcia.

"Tell LA we can be there by nine thirty." I sighed as we all stood, so much for the good weekend we had all probably had.

* * *

The jet ride was quick, we all just tried to relax on the way to LA. Now, I was in a SUV with Derek driving, Spencer shotgun and I was in the back listening to them argue about which route was quickest. At one point, I thought my eyes would permanently be rolling as I muttered, "men" as we pulled up to the latest crime scene.

"You should've listened to me," said Spencer when we got out of the car. I groaned and turned to him.

"Just let it go already, we're here!" I wanted to rip hair from my skull, he was being so frustrating.

"The interchange between the 405 and the 101 is consistently rated the worst interchange in the world." I wanted to just smack him upside the head.

"Why do you know that," asked Derek. I wondered it too as Spencer proceeded to answer the question.

"The government report," was all he said.

"So what?" Derek said.

"So you work for the government and you don't read the reports?" I shook my head and looked up at him as Derek continued on.

"On traffic patterns in a city 2,500 miles from where I live."

"2,295 miles," replied Spencer and I really wanted to hit him now.

"Don't make me smack you in front of all these people." I smirked as the lead investigator approached us. We introduced ourselves and then began to help with processing the scene. The rest of the team showed up a few minutes later and we all began working together. Prentiss and I were taking pictures while everybody else was doing something else. At one point, I saw Rossi talking to some kid but we went to the station afterwards so that we could get the profile out to the public.

When the profile began syndicating on all the local channels, the tip line began blowing up so Prentiss and I started helping out with answering the phones. We got some of the craziest shit and nothing that really would have helped us in finding this guy. I had no idea how long we were taking tips, but I looked down at my watch and hours had passed with us getting no real information. I stretched and yawned while Prentiss went to go get us some coffee. That was when a detective walked up to me with a tall Asian man who looked to be about in his early to mid thirties.

"You've got to see this." I nodded my head and looked at him.

"Follow me sir." I said to the man and he followed me to another desk. We sat down and he felt no need to beat around the bush.

"I'm Bobby Kim and I'm pretty sure I know who you're looking for, whose responsible for the killings. His name is Jonny McHale." He handed me some drawings and when I looked them over, I saw that they looked eerily like the crime scene we saw this morning. I stepped away and pulled out my phone to call Hotch, who was out with Rossi, Reid, and Morgan looking at another crime scene that had the same victimology. It only rang once.

"Hotchner."

"Hotch, somebody came in and he knows the unsub. I can't even begin to describe what he brought me." I glanced over at the man, who told me his name was Bobby Kim.

"Did he give you a name?" I sighed.

"Yeah, Jonny McHale. Here's his address." I got off the phone with Hotch afterwards and then went to go sit with Mr. Kim. I began to ask questions about Mr. McHale, and from what Mr. Kim was telling me, I actually felt sorry for Mr. McHale and what he had gone through.

* * *

**Author's Note:** This chapter (and part of the next one) was based of episode ten in season three, "True Night." I would like to mention that it was taken out of context for my story. My story is mostly taking place between seasons five and six though some chapters may be based off previous episodes. I would also like to mention that JJ has already left to work for the Pentagon but she will be coming back soon. :) I 3 JJ! KTHXBAI! Until the next chapter...I LOVE YOU ALL!


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

* * *

Chapter Ten : Happy Fourth! (Pt. One)

Jonny McHale was apprehended, brought in, and told us where he had taken Glen Hill. It was terrible, what had happened to him and I could honestly say that I felt sad for him. After we left, Prentiss and I had had a discussion on the plane ride home about what the human race was capable of when tragedy struck. I knew I could have turned out a hell of a lot worse than some broken twenty four year old with major trust issues, but I had a reason to lead a better life.

The rest of the week wasn't too bad, we had two other major cases that we had to travel for and only one of them had me in another state for the night. It was Saturday, the Fourth now and I had a party to prepare. I had been up since six thirty cleaning, cooking, and decorating my house so that it would look at least halfway decent. My mother had stopped by at one point to drop off some food, but she and my father had another function to be at. Rachel was the biggest help, she helped me out with all the twinkle lights I was putting up in the backyard for when it got dark out. A couple of my friends from my dance troupe came early to help set up and I was just putting up a yellow ribbon on my front door when a car I didn't recognize pulled up. I stayed by the door until the car parked and I saw people begin to get out. I smiled when I saw it was Garcia, and she had brought friends. I walked over to her.

"Hey Penelope! Happy Fourth!" She wrapped me in a huge hug.

"Happy Fourth Aly! Let me go ahead and make the introductions here," Penelope pointed out one by one who was who. First, there was her boyfriend Kevin who was another tech analyst at Quantico. He was a cutie pie and the way he looked at Pen, he was over the moon for her. Second, there was Jennifer Jareau, who told me to call her JJ, and her husband William LaMontange Jr.

"Well, that's a mouthful," I joked with him and was pleasantly surprised to hear a New Orleans accent.

"I suppose it is for you Northern people," I laughed and then pulled out my own twangy Texas accent, which I actually really worked very hard to keep stifled.

"Now, I'm from Texas, I'm no Northerner." Everybody's eyes went wide and then he smiled at me. I guess I could let it out for the day, my accent. The last person I was introduced to was JJ and William's son Henry. He was only a year old and utterly adorable. Needless to say, I freaked out a bit...I love babies. We went inside afterwards, I introduced Rachel and my friends who had showed up already and I turned on the stereo that was outside so the party could really get started.

More people began to show up after, my neighbors just came in through my fence and I was perfectly fine with that. I introduced everyone to each other and all of my friends were getting along. Hotch and Jack came and Jack gave me a huge hug when he saw me.

"Thank you for inviting us Miss Alice!" I hugged the boy back.

"You are quite welcome Jack. Thank you for coming. Rachel is in the pool already, you can go swim with her if you want to." He got all excited when I said he could go swim with Rachel. I told Hotch where he could take Jack in the house to get him changed into his swimsuit. I was in such a good mood and I was dancing as I was checking on the snack table. I made a mental note to bring out some more carrots when I saw Spencer and Derek walk out through the back door.

"Hey guys!" I walked over to them. I hugged Spencer, who tensed up a little bit, and shook Derek's hand. "I'm so glad y'all could make it." I earned weird looks from them and then shooed them off to go have fun so I could grab some more things from the house.

* * *

Spencer Reid still wasn't sure if he was going to go to Alice Gates' Fourth of July party when he woke up Saturday morning. It had been a seemingly endless week, but when he heard that Penelope had gotten JJ and Will to come, he thought that it couldn't be all that bad. That, and Derek had said that he was, "coming to get the kid no matter what." So when Derek Morgan buzzed up to Spencer's apartment, Spencer was ready to go and walked down to meet his friend.

"Happy Fourth pretty boy! Ready to par-tay!" Spencer shook his head and laughed at his friend.

"Oh yeah." The drive to Alice Gates' house was quick. Spencer had no idea that they lived so close to each other. Walking up to the front door, Spencer couldn't help but notice the pale yellow ribbon hanging on the front door. Alice hadn't mentioned anyone close to her being military, so maybe she just supported the troops.

"Do we just go in?" Derek had knocked several times but no one had answered. Spencer shrugged his shoulders and then with a muttered "Aw screw it!" from Derek, he opened the door and the two men walked into the house.

Spencer's first impression was that of warmth, openness, and safety. Alice's house was a home, warm and inviting. It was like being at JJ's house. His second impression was that Alice loved her daughter. There were pictures everywhere as the men wound their way through the house to where the sounds of the party were. Normally, when Spencer Reid knew that JJ was going to be where he was, Spencer looked for her first. But today was different, today, his eyes sought out Alice Gates first. She was swaying her hips lightly as she looked over a table and looked up at the boys when they fully stepped out from under the awning. Spencer smiled back at her as Alice walked up to them.

"Hey guys! I'm so glad y'all could make it!" Neither of them had been expecting her to sound so...different. And when she wrapped Spencer up in a hug, the smell of her made him tense. He wasn't used to a random woman, who Spencer did find to have a very attractive facial structure, hug him. Spencer found that he did enjoy it though, and wished he could have held on to Alice Gates for just a moment longer.

* * *

I was happy that all of my friends from every facet of my life were getting along so well. I had this strange feeling that were I stood in this exact moment in time was where I was supposed to be. It made me smile. I walked up to group made up of a couple of my dance troupe buddies, Garcia, Spencer, Derek, and Hotch. I stood between Spencer and Vicki, one of my best friends.

"There you are Alley Cat! I was just wondering where you had scampered off to." I smiled at her.

"Here and there, like always." She laughed at me.

"Totally. Hey, when are we taking that pole dancing class again, I forgot." Spencer started to choke on his drink when I answered Vicki.

"Next month on the 15th is our first class." Vicki nodded her head and then leaned around me to look at Spencer.

"Are you okay man? I thought only chicks choked." Nearly everybody busted out laughing while Spencer glared at Vicki.

"Alice, I have a question for you," I looked nervously over at Derek even though he was smiling at me, "why are you single?" I avoided eye contact but Vicki spoke up for me.

"Oh, lil miss is waiting for Mr. Right, even though I could be your Mrs. Right." I glared and laughed at her. She was my token lesbian friend who kept trying "to bring me over to the dark side with her cookies." Jerome, another one of my dancing friends who was gay was shaking his head.

"Puh-lease Vicki, she has a kid. She's not a lesbian. She likes sausage...not taco." I shook my head and rubbed my face with my hands.

"Okay you two, STOP IT! First off, Jerome that was SO inappropriate. I mean, that's my boss!" I motioned over to Hotch. "Second of all, Vicki, you and I made out ONE TIME! I was drunk for crying out loud! I keep telling you people to not let me drink tequila cause y'all know how stupid I can get!" I was about to say more, but when I heard my name, I stopped.

"AUNT ALY! AUNT ALY!" I smiled widely when I saw two of my three godsons come running up.

"Hey boys! Oh, I've missed you guys so much!" Thomas, who is twelve, wrapped his arms around my waist and Nathan, who is four, wrapped his arms around my legs. When they pulled away, I leaned down and placed kisses all over their cheeks. We were all laughing when I finally stood up straight. "Oh lordie, you boys are going to tower over me when you're older. And you're getting so handsome!" They really were going to be little heart breakers when they grew up. Just then, my oldest godson Ethan, who is going to be eighteen in a matter of months, came walking up to me.

"Hey Aunt Aly." I smiled as I looked at him but then I was quickly shocked.

"What the hell did you do to your hair child!" Ethan's normally shaggy blondish hair was now dyed black with a large teal green strip running across his face. Nathan looked up at me with his four year innocence.

"Aunt Aly! Hell is a bad word!" I laughed and smiled at him as I ruffled his hair.

"I could've said a lot worse honey." Rachel came running up just then with Jack and she hugged her brothers. They all went running off, but not before Rachel noticed Derek and I didn't hear what she said. I was too bust fretting over Ethan.

"You look like me. You look like the pictures mommy has of my daddy. Are you my daddy mister?" Derek smiled and leaned down to Rachel's level.

"No sweetheart, I'm not your daddy." Rachel ran off after that and Derek Morgan looked over at Alice. He had noticed her behavior around him. She was skittish, frightened almost, like a kitten getting backed into a corner whenever it was just the two of them together. Derek couldn't help but wonder as he watched Alice with one of the kids who had just come to the party, had something happened to her that made her nervous around him?

* * *

**Author's Note:** So, I'm starting to delve into why Alice is so nervous around Derek. It's not going to be very pretty. :(


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

* * *

Chapter Eleven : Happy Fourth! (Pt. Two)

The party was going quite well considering how hot it was starting to get outside. It was only three and there was still some time before the sun was going to go down. I had run inside the house to get some more drinks when my house phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Alice, this is Stacey Williams from down the street." I smiled as I responded to my friend.

"Hey Stacey! What's up?" She sighed.

"Have you checked the weather lately or stepped out front recently?" I scowled and started to make my way to my front door.

"No, why?" I stepped out front and looked around at the sky. There were giant storm clouds heading our way. "Oh.."

"Yeah Alice, it's supposedly going to last for the rest of the afternoon. Do yourself a favor and move your party inside." I nodded my head and walked back in the house.

"Thanks for the heads up Stacey." We said our goodbyes as I headed for the back yard by way of the kitchen. I turned off the stereo and stood on one of my deck chairs. I placed my thumb and middle fingers in my mouth and let out a sharp whistle. I had everybody's attention then.

"Alright guys, listen up! I just got a call from Stacey Williams down the street and we've got a pretty nasty storm rolling in. I'm not saying you have to go home but you are more than welcome to if you don't feel like riding it out here. Take food with you if you leave, I've got too much as it is." I heard some laughter from people who had come to my previous Fourth parties. I started to give orders afterwards, "What I need to happen right now is for all the kids to get out of the pool and dried off. Find your parents and see what they are going to do. If your parents are staying, I'll set y'all up upstairs. If you're leaving, I hope you had a good time and come give me hugs before you go. If I could have some people help carry all the food and drinks into the house, that would be great. And one final thing, thank you for flying Wonderland Air, we all hope you'll fall down the rabbit hole again some time soon."

Some of my friends laughed and it was craziness after I stepped down from my chair. I was being asked where everything could be put in the house and I was directing all of it. Kids were running up to me, some left and some stayed. All of my neighbors decided to go home. The majority of my dance friends left too. so when all was said and done, the only people who were still around were my BAU team mates along with JJ, Will, and Henry. Vicki and Jerome stayed along with my godsons and their parents, Richard and Samantha. I had set all the kids up upstairs in my bedroom so they could watch tv and play board games that I gave them.

I was back downstairs with my friends now, we were drinking and laughing and having a good time. The storm hit quick, it was filled with lightening and thunder. I was surprised some of the smaller kids didn't come running, even I jumped a couple of times. At one point, I knocked into Aaron.

"Whoa, you okay Alice?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I just, when it comes to storms...I startle easily." He nodded his head and then I went back to the kitchen to get myself another soda. I started thinking about heading upstairs to check on the kids and even looked through my laundry room, which connected the kitchen and living room, when I noticed someone in the living room. Everybody was really sticking to hanging out in the kitchen and outside, under the awning so they wouldn't get wet, so I wondered who was in my living room. I walked through the laundry room and was kinda surprised to see that it was Spencer. He was staring at my book shelves and I smiled.

"Trying to profile me?" He jumped and I laughed lightly at him.

"What? No!" His voice spiked and I laughed a little louder.

"I get it Spencer, I'm the new girl. You're just trying figure me out. It's okay. Tell me what you've discovered out about me so far and I'll correct you if you're wrong." Spencer stared at me for a long second and then he let out a long sigh.

"You have 12 pictures in this room. Seven are of Rachel, four are of you and Rachel and the last one is of you when you were younger. You honor your past but you don't dwell on it. You make everything about Rachel though," he pointed to a few of the pictures I have hanging, "she is your entire world and you aren't afraid to show it. The books that you have here tell me that you're well read and like to read but you have one foot in the clouds because the majority of them are fantasy." I shrugged my shoulders as he looked around uncomfortably.

"No argument there Spencer." He continued looking around and stopped, pulling down a picture from my shelves.

"Tell me Alice, who is in this picture?" I stepped closer to him and looked down at the picture. I smiled as I gently took it from him. I pointed out myself first.

"Well, that's me. I was four when this was taken." I pointed out the girl to the right, "That's Rachel, my older sister. I named my daughter after her. She was killed when we were kids." Finally, I pointed out the boy to the left in the picture. He was older than both Rachel and I, "And that is my half brother, Dylan." Spencer looked down at me in shock.

"I didn't know you had a half brother!" I jumped. I hadn't heard Derek come into the room. I put a hand on my chest as I tried to settle my erratic heartbeat. I also moved closer to Spencer.

"Not a lot of people know about Dylan. At least, not a lot of people outside of Kountze, which is where we grew up in Texas. He's in the Army now and we don't get to see each other a lot but we will always be there for each other." I smiled down at the picture as I took it gently out of Spencer's hands. Just then, there was I brilliant flash of light and the thunder made the windows rattle. The lights went out and I heard some of the kids upstairs scream and I couldn't help it, I yelped out myself and jumped even closer to Spencer. My face was practically centimeters away from his chest and I knew that my face was bright red from embarrassment even though it was now dark in the room. The lights immediately came back on and I backed away from Spencer with a mumbled, "I'm sorry." He was about to say something, but there were several sets of footsteps thundering down the stairs.

"MAMA!" Rachel ran to me and glued herself to my legs. I picked her up and hugged her.

"It's okay honey, it's okay. Shh." I rubbed her back as I heard other kids find their parents. Rachel was freaked out and I couldn't blame her, I was freaked out too. It was strange though, it was like the storm had that one final boom to scare us because the sky lightened up and the rain, which had been letting up over the past hour, seemed to stop completely. I walked back to the kitchen, with Spencer and Derek following, where everyone else was. I stepped outside and sure enough, the rain had stopped and the sunset was breath taking. The sky was painted colors of red, gold, and pink. Rachel looked around and then looked at me.

"Can we get back in the pool now?" I laughed at my daughter as thunder rumbled in the distance. It was like the storm left just as quick as it had hit.

"Wait a few more minutes and then we'll see love." I put her down and all the kids came outside to play on swing set I had. Everybody moved back outside now that it was nice out again. Stacey called me again to let me know that my two neighbors who set off fireworks on the lake every year were still going to set them off since the rain had stopped. That made the kids, and a lot of the adults, really happy.

Eventually, I let the kids get back into the pool. It was just starting to get dark when I ran into the house to get the glow sticks and sparklers I had bought for the kids when Vicki and Jerome came tearing into the kitchen.

"Have we got the biggest surprise for you Alley Cat!" Jerome came behind me and covered my eyes while Vicki began to pull me out of the house. I was laughing as they pulled me out back.

"Come on guys! Let me go!" When they stopped and finally let me go and Jerome uncovered my eyes, I was thoroughly surprised when I saw a man in an Army uniform standing in front of me. I nearly started crying as I launched myself at him. It wasn't my smartest idea. We went toppling into the deep end of my pool. We were both laughing when we came up for air.

"You're so lucky my phone is in my bag you twerp!" I shoved some water at my older brother.

"Whatever geek!" I brushed my now wet hair out of my face and swam to the edge of the pool so that I could pull myself. I helped Dylan out right afterwards and Vicki brought us a couple of towels. I started to dry myself off, but I was going to have to change out of the dress I was wearing. Dylan and I ran inside to change out of our now soaking clothes. Dylan went to my guest room in the basement and I went up to my room. I changed into a pair of denim shorts, a black tank top, and threw on a light weight slouchy sweater on over it to stay warm. I had taken off my shoes downstairs, so I put on another pair of Converse but these were black. I was still towel drying my hair as I came back outside. Dylan was already waiting, he was talking to Richard.

"Alright, who's ready for some fireworks?" All the kids cheered and I smiled at them, they were all ready to go. I gave them all glow stick necklaces to wear so I could keep an eye on them.

Walking to the lake was fun, Dylan and I caught up on things he and I had both missed out on over the past year. He was proud of my promotion and I was proud of his. He was now a staff sergeant and I was a profiler. I set out a giant blanket on a patch of semi-dry ground and sat down while Dylan played on the swings with Rachel. I gave the kids all sparklers and they were running around and having a great time. Aaron came and sat next to me as the sky continued to darken.

"Given the storm, this was a great party. I had a good time. So did Jack." I smiled as I looked over at all the kids playing together.

"That's good, I'm glad you guys had fun. I love seeing Rachel so happy." He nodded his head and we smiled at each other. The fireworks started not too long after that. Rachel, Dylan, Jack, and all three of my godsons came and sat with us. I was so happy to be surrounded by family and friends. Life was good...or so I thought.

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**Author's Note:** Yay! I finished it! Damn evil plot bunnies ran away...

And a special shout out to ZoetheBrave who got the ringtone that I used for Rachel! (It was Dance Magic by David Bowie from the movie Labyrinth.) You get a cookie!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is owned by it's brilliant creators who I adore for giving the world such an awesome show. I make no profit from this. This is mostly for my entertainment but I'm letting you tag along for this crazy ride too!**

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Chapter Twelve : My Dirty Little Secret

July melted into the hottest August on record and then faded into a cool crisp September. Dylan went back home to Texas and Rachel started second grade. Work had gotten rough, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. My mom and I had gotten into a fight over how much weight I had lost from stress, but I just blew it off, I was fine. Rachel had gotten used to me having to be gone for a few days at a time, but I knew she wasn't okay with it. She had turned seven this past August though, and she loved that I was home and that she was able to have a huge pool party with my team there. I couldn't tell who she loved more, though I would have to go with Penelope...she spoils Rachel to no end.

I was walking into work one morning, a little late, with coffee from Starbucks in my hand. We hadn't had a case in a couple of days though, so nearly everyone was just hanging out in the break room. It kind of helped that Hotch and Rossi were away right now, interviewing some serial killer (I forgot his name) for a new book that Rossi was working on. They were due to be back sometime this morning though. I set my stuff down and walked into the break room to find Emily flipping off Garcia.

"Hey! Now that's not very nice Emily!" She rolled her eyes at me and I took a sip of my caramel coffee goodness.

"Whatever mom," she muttered and sat at the table with Garcia. Mom had become my nickname within the team. It was kind of fitting since I was the only parent other than Hotch and I was so the mothering type. When Reid had gotten shot in the leg, I insisted that I drive him to and from work since I had to pass by him every day. He wasn't too happy about it at first, but we enjoyed each others company in the end. I had even made him come over for dinner a few times because the man lives by himself, is skinnier than a half starved scarecrow, and I figured that he might like something that was homemade for once.

"I was just reading Kevin and Emily their horoscopes, want to hear yours Mama Bear?" I nodded my head and sat on the table in front of Penelope. "What's your sign Mama?" I put my cup of coffee down.

"That would be Scorpio." She smiled and scanned over the paper.

"Ah, the ever mysterious, sex crazed scorpion. I should have known." I laughed out loud and rolled my eyes.

"Mysterious, hell yes. Sex crazed, not really." Penelope had to scan for a few more seconds, went "Ah ha" and then began to read me my horoscope as I picked my coffee back up and took a sip.

"You might have to cut back on your social activities and minimize community participation because personal obligations require your undivided attention. Fortunately, you will have more time for successful networking in the weeks ahead with irrepressible Mars turning direct in your 11th House of Friends today. But remember, your responsibilities won't just disappear overnight. You should be able to reconnect with like-minded individuals soon." I thought about what it could potentially mean for me, but I wasn't about to take it super seriously.

"Tell me you don't really believe in that crap?" I startled at Derek's sudden closeness to me and got a little upset at the coffee that had spilled onto my sweater.

"No, not entirely. I don't plan my entire day around it but you never know, there could be something helpful to me in there."

Just then, Spencer came walking around the corner with an acquaintance of mine. Someone who I knew wasn't here to bring me the best of news, but I still liked seeing him. So I hoped down from the table and walked over to him to give him a hug. "Marshall Jimmy Godfrey! As I live and breathe! What are you doing so far from Houston?" He hugged me back, but it was tentative.

"You know why I'm here Alice," he said as he pulled away from me. "Do you have somewhere private where we can talk?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, come on." I led him to the bull pen and shut the door behind us. He threw a file down on the table.

"Alice, you need to be careful about how you proceed with this." I sighed, sat down, pulled the file over to me and began to look over what the file said. When I was done, I ran my hands through my hair and looked at him.

"Tell me this isn't happening Jim." He looked at me with sad eyes.

"I wish I could Alice, but it is. The Kountze Killer, or at least his son, is back. And he wants you." I stood and glanced down into what I now fondly called "The Pit" where all the desks were. I could feel my team's eyes on me. I could see Hotch and Rossi, they must have just gotten back to Quantico.

"Let me make a call or two and talk to my boss. Then we'll leave." I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't dialed in months. It didn't take long for my uncle to pick up though.

"Hello?" I felt bad for waking him up.

"Uncle Jason, it's Alice. The Kountze Killer is back. I'm going to have mom and Rachel stay with you while I'm in Texas." I paused so that he could take in what I just said.

"Alright, stay safe Alice." I laughed lightly.

"I always am. I love you Uncle Jason." I could see his crinkled smile plain as day in my mind.

"I love you too Alice." I called my mom next, I didn't tell her the whole story but I did tell her that I needed her and Rachel to stay with Uncle Jason until I got back from Texas. Hotch and Rossi came walking into the bull pen when I hung up with her.

"What's going on Alice?" I looked at my boss.

"Good morning to you too Hotch, Rossi," I smiled at the two older men. "I've got to go to Texas. I've had something come up." I gestured to Jimmy, "This is U.S. Marshall Jimmy Godfrey. He was one of the marshalls who brought my biological mother in after...everything..." I had talked about some of my past with Hotch, but everybody knew the basics of what had happened all those years ago.

"May I inquire into what this is about before you leave?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, twenty five years ago Kountze, Texas had a serial killer. He was named the Kountze Killer." Rossi nodded his head, he would know who I was talking about. "He stopped killing suddenly, nobody really knows why but I have a pretty good reason why he may have. My biological mother was his only surviving victim." I handed Hotch the file Jimmy had given me. "Now, the killer, or his son actually, has started killing again. And they think that I'm their sister, which is potentially possible." Hotch stopped looking at the file to look at me. Rossi looked just as shocked. I had to fight back a wave of tears and panic attacks, I hadn't told anyone my dirty little secret. Yes, Dylan and I looked startlingly alike, but there was a chance I could be a serial killer's child. We had never had any DNA testing done because we just knew, even as kids, that we were family. And now this was being thrown in my face. And I just wanted to throw up.

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"Hey, my name is Jimmy Godfrey and I'm looking for Alice Gates." Spencer Reid looked up from his computer to see a man, almost as tall as he is with bright blue eyes and curly hair that was cut close to his scalp. He had a Texas accent, a U.S. Marshall badge was pinned to his shirt and a file in his hand which Spencer thought was odd. Cases were normally brought to Hotch.

"She just got in, but if you're here about a case you need to see our Unit Chief, Aaron Hotchner." The man nodded his head.

"I know y'alls protocols but this is different. This concerns Alice Gates and I need to speak with her." A feeling of dread started to knot deep down in Spencer Reid's chest. He stood up and nodded towards where Alice was with the rest of the team.

"This way," Spencer said and led the man to the break room. Alice looked over and smiled at the man.

"Marshall Jimmy Godfrey! As I live and breathe! What are you doing so far from Houston?" Alice jumped up and gave the man a hug and he hugged her back, but it wasn't as enthusiastic as Alice's hug. Another emotion started to build in Spencer's chest, jealousy. After Spencer had gotten shot in the leg, Alice had taken it upon herself to drive Spencer to and from work and wherever else he needed to go. They lived close to one another and Alice had had no problem with it, but Spencer didn't like being the center of attention. Though he did like it when Alice would run a little late and then buy Spencer coffee on the way home. It had been a couple of weeks since Spencer had started driving himself again, and he had forced himself to realize that there was something special about Alice and that Alice had become special to Spencer. He had even written a letter to his mom stating that, "There was something about her that not even he could figure out."

Spencer watched as Alice and this U.S. Marshall walked into the bull pen. Jimmy handed Alice a file and Alice sat down and began to sort through it. Spencer tried his best to watch the emotions shift on Alice's face. First shock, then anger, fear, and finally there was sadness etched on her pretty face. The feeling of dread surfaced again. He felt Derek walk up beside him.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Spencer shrugged his shoulders as he heard Hotch and Rossi come in.

"It can't be anything good, that's for sure." He said to his best friend. Hotch and Rossi approached the team's desks and they were welcomed back by the team. When the two asked where Alice was, Derek pointed towards the bull pen. The two senior agents then looked at each other and made their way upstairs. Upon entering the bull pen, Emily walked up to Spencer and Derek.

"Well, why do I get the feeling shit is about to hit the fan?" Spencer silently agreed with Prentiss.

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**Author's Note:** U.S Marshall Jimmy Godfrey is a character borrowed from the NBC show "Chase" which is another show about catching criminals that I love. And no, this isn't about to become a crossover I'm just borrowing the character. Leave some love! PS - Happy Cinco de Mayo!


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